Purpose :
To investigate the relationship between self-reported bupropion use and self-reported glaucoma in a nationally representative sample of the United States population.

Methods :
This cross-sectional study included 6,760 participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) between 2005 and 2008, age ≥40 years, who responded to a question asking whether or not they have glaucoma. Participants were interviewed regarding the use of prescription medications and those ascertained as having used bupropion were further divided into groups based on duration of usage. Other relevant information, including demographics, comorbidities, and health-related behaviors, was obtained via interview. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to determine the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for association between bupropion use and prevalent glaucoma.

Results :
453 participants self-reported a diagnosis of glaucoma, and 108 reported bupropion medication use. Participants who reported using bupropion for more than 1 year had decreased odds of self-reporting a diagnosis of glaucoma (unadjusted OR=0.1 95% CI (0.01-0.52); adjusted OR=0.1 95% CI ( 0.01- 0 .81)) compared with those not using bupropion or using it for less than a year.

Conclusions :
Bupropion use, particularly for an extended period of time, may be associated with a reduced risk of glaucomatous disease

This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.